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Jane Roe’s Anti-Abortion Conversion Was an Act

May 20, 2020 at 12:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In a forthcoming documentary, Norma McCorvey — known as Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade — admits that she was paid to make anti-abortion comments “in the mid ’90s when the pro-choice advocate and activist appeared to become a born-again ex-gay Christian with the help of leaders of the evangelical Christian right,” the Daily Beast reports.

Filed Under: Advocacy

Advocacy Group That Opposed Bailouts Now Wants One

April 24, 2020 at 10:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Among the applicants for loans from the Small Business Administration’s stimulus package is the foundation arm of FreedomWorks, a conservative operation that advocates small government and made its name opposing bailouts,” the New York Times reports.

Filed Under: Advocacy

Andrew Yang Launches New Political Group

March 5, 2020 at 11:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Andrew Yang is starting a new group to cement his ideas about 21st century work and technology firmly into the political “mainstream,” with an ambitious goal of advancing “a wave of new thinking in American politics,” BuzzFeed News reports.

Key takeaway: “His new group, which would allow him to build on his political platform until another campaign, will be structured as a 501(c)4 organization, meaning it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and is not obligated to disclose its donors.”

Filed Under: Advocacy


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Donors Drop Millions to Defend Trump on Impeachment

November 19, 2019 at 7:14 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Wealthy Republicans are funneling millions of dollars through a constellation of party-aligned groups to defend President Trump against impeachment by politically wounding his Democratic antagonists,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Some of the biggest players in this coordinated effort are 501(c)4 organizations, issue advocacy nonprofit groups that do not have to disclose contributors. This option, which also permits unlimited donations, is allowing conservative groups to attack congressional Democrats and provide air cover to the president without tapping super PAC resources earmarked for the 2020 campaign.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Dark Money Group Was Backed by 20 Billionaires

October 28, 2019 at 9:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Forbes: “A nonprofit group with a bland name, Americans for Job Security, spent $5 million supporting Republicans in the 2010 midterms and $15 million denouncing former President Obama in the 2012 election, but until this week, the group never had to file disclosures showing where its money was coming from.”

“The biggest individual donor to the group appears to be Charles Schwab, the brokerage titan worth an estimated $7.8 billion. Over the span of three months in 2012, he donated nearly $9 million. Gap cofounder Doris Fisher—along with her sons Robert, John and William—gave another $9 million.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

David Koch Is Dead

August 23, 2019 at 9:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Billionaire conservative icon David Koch has died at age 79, CBS News reports.

“The New York resident was suffering from deteriorating health as of late, according to a letter Koch’s older brother Charles Koch sent to company officials last summer.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Christie Creates Think Tank Centered on Civility

August 19, 2019 at 12:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), “who built a political brand around unfiltered frank talk aimed at political opponents and constituents alike, is starting a think tank centered on something unexpected: Civility in politics,” WNYC reports.

Said Chrisite: “Unfortunately our politics have gotten so ugly and divisive in the country that people are not having civilized conversations.”

Filed Under: Advocacy Tagged With: Chris Christie

NRA Discussed Buying Mansion for Its Chief Executive

August 7, 2019 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Documents indicate that the National Rifle Association planned to purchase a luxury mansion in the Dallas area last year for the use of chief executive Wayne LaPierre,” the Washington Post reports.

“The discussions about the roughly $6 million purchase, which was not completed, are now under scrutiny by New York investigators. The transaction was slated to be made through a corporate entity that received a wire of tens of thousands of dollars from the NRA in 2018.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Conservative PAC Raised $10 Million – And Kept It

July 26, 2019 at 7:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“After recruiting thousands of donors for the American Conservative Union — the powerful organization behind the annual CPAC conference — a Republican political operative pushed the same contributors to give millions to a PAC that promised to go after then-President Barack Obama, but then steered much of their donations to himself and his partners,” ProPublica reports.

“The PAC, called the Conservative Majority Fund, has raised nearly $10 million since mid-2012 and continues to solicit funds to this day, primarily from thousands of steadfast contributors to conservative causes, many of them senior citizens. But it has made just $48,400 in political contributions to candidates and committees.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Protesters Glue Themselves to Capitol Entrances

July 23, 2019 at 10:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sixteen protesters from the climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion glued themselves to underground shuttle entrances in the U.S. Capitol.

Washington Post: “A group of activists had used Gorilla Glue to fasten their hands to the doorjambs of a tunnel connecting the Capitol to the House office buildings, according to a participant who declined to give his full name. About 15 other people were helping.”

Filed Under: Advocacy, Environment

Chamber of Commerce Still Shut Out

May 2, 2019 at 2:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “A month before his inauguration, and shortly after he had finished a round of golf with Tiger Woods, Donald Trump was introduced to an adviser of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce… Stanton Anderson stood in the clubhouse of Mr. Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., and extended his hand to the president-elect. Mr. Trump refused it.”

Said Trump: “You guys did everything to stop me. I haven’t forgotten.”

“In the two years since, relations between Mr. Trump and Washington’s biggest lobbying organization haven’t much improved.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Sanders Slams Liberal Think Tank

April 14, 2019 at 12:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a rare and forceful rebuke by a presidential candidate of an influential party ally, has accused a liberal think tank of undermining Democrats’ chances of taking back the White House in 2020 by ‘using its resources to smear’ him and other contenders pushing progressive policies,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Sanders’s criticism of the Center for American Progress… reflects a simmering ideological battle within the Democratic Party and threatens to reopen wounds from the 2016 primary between him and Hillary Clinton’s allies. The letter airs criticisms shared among his supporters: That the think tank, which has close ties to Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic Party establishment, is beholden to corporate donors and has worked to quash a leftward shift in the party led partly by Mr. Sanders.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Advocacy Tagged With: Bernie Sanders

Bannon Teams with Wealthy Chinese Critic

November 21, 2018 at 6:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Steve Bannon “is teaming up with one of the Chinese government’s fiercest critics on a $100 million effort to investigate what they view as abuses of power by President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui … said he would provide the funding for the so-called ‘Rule of Law Fund’ to investigate deaths and disappearances of Chinese executives, politicians and other public figures. Mr. Bannon said he would volunteer to serve as the fund’s chairman and oversee its operations, which he said would include hiring a professional staff.”

Filed Under: Advocacy Tagged With: Stephen Bannon

Environmental Groups Plan Big Campaign Spending

September 13, 2018 at 12:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The League of Conservation Voters plans to spend a record-breaking $60 million helping Democrats win congressional and state legislative seats, the Washington Post reports.

“Other environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund, also say they plan to invest even more money during this campaign cycle than they did in 2016. Trump’s victory in 2016, along with his administration’s subsequent attempts to roll back numerous environmental rules, have fueled a fundraising surge that environmental groups hope will help them put a check on the president by electing Democratic majorities in Congress.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign, Advocacy

Bezos Makes First Major Political Donation

September 5, 2018 at 7:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife are making their first major foray into politics with a $10 million contribution to a super PAC that aims to elect military veterans to Congress,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Honor Fund PAC is backing 33 House candidates now running—19 Democrats and 14 Republicans. It does “no screening for ideology,” but rather seeks out a “common bond of service and commitment to the country.”

Filed Under: Advocacy Tagged With: Jeff Bezos

Bannon Forms Group to Defend Trump

August 15, 2018 at 8:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Steve Brannon “is forming a group to try to sell voters on a midterm message that they should support Republicans to defend the Trump agenda and save the president from impeachment,” the New York Times reports.

“The group, Citizens of the American Republic, is Mr. Bannon’s new vehicle after he was pushed out of the White House last summer and then parted ways with the conservative website Breitbart.”

“Mr. Bannon declined to describe his donors or how much money the group has raised. One person close to the group said that Rebekah Mercer, the hedge fund billionaire who supported Mr. Bannon’s previous political efforts but broke ties with him months ago, has no role.”

Filed Under: Advocacy Tagged With: Stephen Bannon

The ACLU Wants Its Members to Vote

July 12, 2018 at 4:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The American Civil Liberties Union is launching a new electoral program to mobilize its 1.8 million members to vote as a bloc — a sign of how the group, flush with cash from the election of Donald Trump, is increasingly turning itself into a political engine of the resistance,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“If the new ACLU reminds you of the National Rifle Association, that’s not an accident.”

Filed Under: Advocacy

Ryan-Linked Group Raised $24.6M from Anonymous Donor

May 18, 2018 at 5:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

American Action Network, the nonprofit group closely aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan, raised a record $41.9 million amid the GOP push to repeal Obamacare and restructure the tax code — more than half of which came from one anonymous donor, Politico reports.

Filed Under: Advocacy

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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